What ‘Judy’ teaches us about fandom
Biopics of great entertainers can be tricky. When the subject is a performer extensively documented during her lifetime, suspension of disbelief can be a hurdle for some viewers.
Judy Garland is one of those performers.
The star has remained a part of popular culture even 50 years after her death. “The Wizard of Oz” has a place in the cinematic stratosphere few other films can touch; Garland’s recordings have become standards, and new documentaries and books about her are frequent. She is one of the rare stars who is both an icon of childhood because of kidfriendly films like “Oz” and “Meet Me in St. Louis” and also the gay community for her largerthanlife talent and showbiz survivor wit.
As a friend of Dorothy (the LGBTQ code word for Garland fan), I was eager to see how filmmakers would interpret this performer whom so many fans feel they have personal ownership of in the latest movie, “Judy.”
Rupert Goold’s biopic features Renée Zellweger as Garland during her final months. This Judy is a bundle of neuroses and addictions, with a fan base still craving her ruby slipper magic. The best moments are a series of (probably apocryphal) scenes that show Garland going home with admirers who explain to her why they keep going back to the theater for her performances.
To better understand Garland’s legacy and the relationship audiences have seeing an icon portrayed by another actor, I brought two of my best Judys (a term meaning close pal, named for Garland) to a screening of the film. Lara Gabrielle Fowler is a classic film scholar from Oakland who has written extensively about Garland on her Backlots blog. Connie Champagne is a veteran Bay Area actress and singer beloved for her performances as Garland in shows like “Judy’s Scary Little Christmas.”
Fowler factchecked the film in real time like a classic Hollywood Rachel Maddow: “The kids are too young,” “Liza would have never called Judy ‘Mom,’ it was always ‘Mama,’” “That talk show scene is made up.”
Meanwhile, Champagne occasionally responded to the action on screen — in her Judy Garland voice. With Zellweger on the screen doing her best Judy consonants and sustained vibrato and Champagne beside me correcting the actress’ occasional lapse back into her native Texas vowels, it was like having Garland in stereo.
After the screening, Fowler, Champagne and I met at The Chronicle to discuss our thoughts about the film for a Datebook podcast episode.
My biggest takeaway was a revelation about the nature of biopic film acting. There are two methods of portraying a wellknown figure: the Jessica Lange method and the Faye Dunaway method. Both actresses played movie star Joan Crawford.
Dunaway’s portrayal of Crawford in the film “Mommie Dearest” was for many a nearexact recreation of the icon, from physical transformation and carriage to vocal quality.
Lange’s performance as Crawford on the television series “Feud,” in contrast, was more internal. She wasn’t a particularly close physical or vocal match for Crawford, but you come to believe she understood Crawford’s inner life and motivations.
Zellweger’s performance as Garland was somewhere in the middle. There were certainly moments she captured a particular phrasing or a way Garland moved onstage. But, usually, the instances when Zellweger most believably conveyed the emotional life of Garland were when she was the least like her externally.
Champagne identifies as an external-tointernal actress, one who finds the truth of the character through her outward physicality, in her performances as Judy. Champagne recalled one of the first concerts she performed as Judy in the early 2000s, when a little girl in the audience “was horrified that I wasn’t Dorothy.” But by the end of the concert, that same little girl had come around to accepting Champagne as an adult Judy. She even held her hand as she sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Champagne said. It was a moment when she realized that because of the connection many fans have to Garland, Champagne could be a vessel through which they can channel their continued appreciation.
“One thing this movie has the potential to do is introduce Judy to people who may not know her from anything but ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” said Fowler. “The connection she had with her audience was sacred. People talk about going to Judy Garland concerts like going to church. That’s what I’d like people to know and hold about Judy.”
As we continued to discuss the nature of fandom, one thought kept coming back to the front of my mind: Heaven help director Baz Luhrmann and actor Austin Butler as they prepare their new Elvis movie.